Introduction

The land area of China, at more than 9.5 million km2, approximates to that of the U.S.A. but extends much further south into tropical areas. The resulting diversity of habitats, from the cold northern forests and extensive grasslands, to the rich tropical forests of the south, supports a highly diverse flora and fauna. In reflecting this, the Thysanoptera fauna comprises Holarctic components both across the north as well as in association with the Himalayan mountain chain from southeast Europe and Iran, together with a rich Oriental component in the south including Hainan and the heavily dissected country of southwest Yunnan.

Until recently, the study of Thysanoptera in China has been based around schools of agricultural science and has involved limited exploration across the country. This approach is changing, with many additional taxa having been newly recorded during the past 10 years. Further European elements are being found in the north (Mirab-balou et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2018), Asian and even Australian elements in the south (Li et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2018), as well as an increasing number of endemics (Li, Li & Zhang 2018).

The basic taxonomic reference works for thrips in China comprise two revisionary studies (Han, 1997; Wang, 2002), and two checklists (Zhang & Tong, 1993; Mirab-balou et al. 2011). The information system presented here is intended to encourage expanded studies in China, particularly of the Thysanoptera sub-order Terebrantia. However, the second sub-order, the Tubulifera, is even more diverse and remains largely unstudied in this country (Dang et al., 2014).